Toxic
by Avatar Conner
Summary: After learning how to be a hero from the world famous, or infamous depending on who you ask, Spider-Man. Mark Marshall and his symbiote parter Toxin decide to strike out on their own. Arriving in Gotham City, they soon come across a team unlike any they've seen. Rated M for Language, possible Gore, anc OTHER 'winkwink' reasons.
1. Chapter 1

**Symbiosis**

 **AN: Yeah I know, my third Spider-Man story….technically. Cuz see….well Toxin had his own comic for a bit but first appeared in Venom and Carnage and….and…..oh you know what I mean. Now look this is just a fun little story I made because well…..honestly I really like the concept of Toxin and I really wish they did more with him before killing him off in Carnage's comic series.**

 **Now I'll level with you guys I'm mainly doing this as a guilty pleasure fic, nothing super in depth like Spider-Man/Rwby crossover or Son of Wolverine I just wanted to make a cool story.**

 **Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with the symbiote known as Toxin, I can't blame you since he gets sidelined a lot in comics for his cooler kinsmen.**

 **Now, this is waning because this story shall contain violence, language, smut, and worst of all….possible spelling errors.**

 **Also I will not use timestamps because those are annoying as hell.**

 _Thinking_

'Radio/Phone'

 _'Telepathy'_

 ** _Symbiote speaking to Host_**

* * *

 _Remind me how we ended up in here of all places?_ Mark asked as the bus he rode on passed a large sign on the side of the road, welcoming the passengers to Gotham city. The teen ran a hand through his brown hair as he leaned back in his seat, _Because I'm pretty sure we agreed that we would go anywhere but here._

 ** _Hey don't blame me! If I recall correctly, you where the one who wanted to get out of New York while the Parkers decided to screw around with one another. And I remember you thinking that Gotham would be a nice change of scenery._** Another voice in the teen's head said, the voice sounding older as compared to the child like one he had when he and Mark bonded together. The teen rolled his eyes, he had been living with Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson ever since he lost his mother and father a few years ago.

And about three months ago, the Parker apartment got some big news in the form of a pregnancy test. To say that Peter and Mark were overjoyed would be a statement….at least for Peter it was after he woke up from fainting. _No Toxin they…..look they…uggh you know what I mean! And besides with MJ having a bun in the oven I think it's about time we set up our own shop in some other city….Jersey was a bust so Gotham is next on the list._ he explained to his friend as best he could as they entered the city limits.

Toxin was silent and Mark didn't need a mental link with him to know why, Toxin was deathly afraid of being alone. And the thought of moving out of the Parker's loving home was suffice to say a little jarring for the symbiote to comprehend. _Tox, listen…you know Pete and MJ think of us like family right?_ he tried to reassure. He received no response, _….just because we won't be there doesn't mean we won't be a part of their lives Tox._ he assured as the bus turned at a street corner, the outside showing people heading home for the day as the sun began to set.

 ** _…you sure you just don't want me around a baby?_** The symbiote asked with a hint of bitterness.

 _Well the thought of a symbiote baby never crossed my mind._ he joked, but he knew what Toxin meant. He was the spawn of Carnage, and the first thing that the psychopath tried to do was kill his own 'son' along with Venom. _You are not you're father Toxin. Trust me. Besides we've been with Spidey how long? Pete's like family and all but there comes a time when you need to….move out of the nest you know?_ he assured, smiling a little as the bus stop came into view. Mark sighed, _Well let's find a place to crash for the night, last thing I think we need is to get roped into something. We wind up staying here I want to make a good impression on Batman…you know if that's actually possible._

 ** _That man still scares me._** Toxin admitted.

 _Dude he scares everyone a little._ Mark stated as he got up from his seat and made his way off the bus. Looking up at the skyscrapers he took in the gothic style of some of the buildings for which the city was known for. _Though in this city it might be a requirement if you want to make any progress._ he thought as he took his phone out of his pocket and looked for the closest place to stay for a few days.

 ** _Kinda perfect for us in that case._** Toxin noted as his host worked on finding a decent motel nearby on his phone. As he began to make his way to his temporary abode, he noticed a few people from the bus stop going the same way as him….at least that's what Mark thought before he still felt them fallowing him after a few blocks. **_Remember what you said about not getting roped into something?_** Toxin asked him.

 _Must be the Gotham welcoming committee…..I don't think Bats would mind if we scare these guys off._ he thought with a hint of mischief, he could feel Toxin smile in the back of his head. _There's an alley up ahead. Let's do it there._ he said as he quickened his walking speed and dipped into an alley. The group of four tailing him fallowed suite only to see the darkened alley empty, thinking that their target had made them and simply went to hiding.

The alley was like a miniature maze between the buildings, as the four walked down the alleyway the one in the back felt something grab his back before suddenly being yanked upwards. The trio noticed that their other member was suddenly gone, "Patty? Where the hell did Patty go?" one of them asked as he turned to the others, only to find that the trio had lost another. Both of their eyes widened, "It's gotta be the Bat! Run!" he shouted before taking off down the alley back the way they came. The one running looked back to see the last of his partners gone, only making him run all the more faster into a sticky substance in the shape of a web.

"Not a bat. More like a Spider." a voice said from above, the would be mugger looked up to see what he would only describe as a monster. A narrow set of black eyes with red rims around them narrowed as they looked over it's victim. The entire body was covered with some sort of liquid looking substance with the occasional tendril extruding out. The body itself looked like something akin to armor, with the shoulders, forearms, and shins more padded. The suit itself was dark black with a large red spider with the legs spread out, a set going around his neck, another across his shoulders, a third pair around his waist, and the final set dipping down over his hips and connecting to another spider on the back.

The man's terrified expression made Toxin roll with laughter in the host's mind but Mark ignored it, "Now then, here's what is going to happen. You and your little friends are going to stop doing this, or I will be back and….well you know what spiders do to flies trapped int heir webs." he said before crawling up the web and leaving the terrified thug. Leaping from the web, he raised his hand and a new line shot out from the top of his wrist from the white square atop his hand and swung through the sky. _Well there goes not starting anything._

 ** _I love doing that._** Toxin said happily, noticing his host was smiling beneath the suit, **_You did that to cheer me up didn't you?_** he asked his host.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Mark said innocently as he threw out another webline as curved through the air and flung himself off into the air. "Come on, let's have some fun partner." he said as they continued swinging.

* * *

A single night in Gotham left Mark and Toxin both had more than their fair share of action, **_Seriously a normal man does this much work every night? We're sure he's human?_** Toxin asked his host as they swung after a car being chased by police cruisers. The getaway car's passenger window opened and a masked gunman climbed out with a assault rifle raised before a glob of black webbing hit it's barrel and pulled it out of his grasp just as Toxin landed on the roof of the car, grabbing the gunman he threw him over his shoulder with a tendril spraying out a web to catch him while the host drove his fist through the roof and into the skull of the driver.

The car swerved until the suit sent out a few weblines from it's back onto the road behind them, slowing the car to a stop before leaping off the roof and swinging away. It was almost ten at night by now and he was starting to slowly wear on the host and his symbiote. _Ok Maybe now is the time for us to hit the-_ Mark began thinking before the sound of gunshots rang through the air fallowed by the roar of a series of engines a block over.

He shot a webline to the side of a building to his left and swung over top of it, flipping over so he landed in a crouch on the other side to see a trio of bikes parked outside of a continence store, a second later the robber came out and hopped on his bike. However just as the pair were about to spring into action, an arrow hit the bag with the cash an pinned it to the wall of the store. **_Wait I thought arrows was the green guy's thing…what's his name again?_** Toxin joked in Mark's head before another arrow stuck one of them in head with a blunt end, knocking them out.

The symbiote and host looked from where the arrow came from to see an blonde, female archer stationed down the street with another arrow knocked back and poised to fire. Mark's eyes widened as the other three drove down the street at her. The archer ran forward and fired at the wheel of one of the bikes, puncturing the tire and making him crash while the other two continued forward. _Ok she can kick ass._ he added as she leapt up onto the hood of one of the bikes and flipped over the driver's head, shooting a net arrow at the driver's back.

As she rolled across the ground she turned her attention to the final cyclist only to see him pulled off his bike by a black line before being slung around a lamppost. The archer pointed her arrow atop the streetlamp and saw the dark figure raise his hands up, "Woah! Friendly!" he called out peacefully.

Getting a better look at the archer he first noticed that she clearly seemed to be related t the emerald archer of Star City, her costume consisted of a dark green sleeveless top with a exposed midriff along with of a lighter shade of green over her chest in the shape of an arrow. The top stretched up her neck to where her mask covered most of her face up to her hairline while exposing her nose, mouth, and eyes. Her blonde hair had been tied back in a ponytail with her hair down to her waist. On her right bicep was a green band with matching colored fingerless gloves extending up past her elbows, showing off her muscular arms.

Around her waist was a black utility belt with a buckle on the front bearing a arrowhead. Her tight pants where the same shade as her top with black kneepads and a pouch on her hip that looked like it was holstering something that resembled a firearm but looked too big to be any piece Mark had seen. _Hello sexy archer girl._ Mark thought, getting a snicker from Toxin in response, _Zip it Tox._

The archer didn't lower her bow so Mark took a page out of Spider-Man's notebook, talk, "So uhhh…hi, I'm Toxin. I'm new to town, just arrived today….gotta admit, you're a sight for sore eyes compared to the dude with pointy ears…he doesn't like me all that well." he admitted, hoping to try and not get shot with an arrow. He saw the corner of her mouth twitch slightly. "If it's any consolation I'd much rather have an arrow pointed at me by you than talk with the other guy….although that says more about him than me."

She finally cracked a smirk as she lowered her bow, "I thought all the spider people were in New York." she jested as she put her arrow in the quiver she held on her back. The sound of police sirens made them both look down the street where a cop car was approaching from.

"Want a lift?" The symbiote covered ten asked whilst the archer fired a grappling arrow to the rooftop where she was pulled up to.

 ** _Smooth._** Toxin jeered in his mind.

 _Oh zip it you slushy reject._ Mark thought back as he fired a webline up after her and pulled himself up onto the rooftop where the green clad teen was waiting for him with a hand on her hip expectantly. "So….Green Arrow fan?" he guessed.

"I hear green goes with my eyes…..you?" she asked, looking the new arrival to Gotham over with a critical eye. She knew that there were a few people bearing the Spider symbol, most notably was Spider-Man but she knew what he looked like and his costume wasn't as menacing.

"Well that depends, you got a few hours to spare while I go into my origin story?" he asked. She folded her arms across her chest as she shook her head, "It's a alien." he replied bluntly, causing her eyes to widen. "I mean I'm still a dude but it can change my appearance and does all the spider stuff." he reassured, not wanting her to get the wrong impression. "So….I'm Toxin, and your?" he tried again.

The archer smirked at his persistence, "Artemis." she introduced.

"Oh like the Greek Goddess? Gotta say that's more creative then Green Arrow…or Batman…or Superman….Or Spider-Man but don't tell him I said that he thinks it's cool." he added the last part as he stood upright. Artemis was just a head shorter than him but she didn't seem intimidated in the slightest.

"And Toxin isn't intimidating or anything." she countered verbally.

 ** _Well she's not wrong._** Toxin said to the host.

However Mark merely shrugged, "Well I sure as hell wasn't going to be Kid Arachnid. The worst names are ones with ages in them unless it's man or woman." he said in his defense, the archer absentmindedly nodded in agreement with his sentiment. "I don't suppose you know a good cheap hotel nearby do you?" he asked.

Her smirk turned playful, "Is this the part where you ask if I could show you where a nice warm bed is and that you wouldn't mind sharing it?" she answered as she turned to her left, the newcomer leaping to a chimney in that direction as she turned.

He held up a hand, "Oh Madam Artemis, I would never take you as the sort! I merely am tired from my journey and want a place that I can sleep for the night….preferably without chance of getting robbed." he said in a mocking tone before adding the last bit quickly.

The blonde's smirk didn't falter, "There's a place a few blocks from here. It's called the Open Arms, it's a decent motel for cheapskates." she jibbed.

"Hey I'm not cheap….I'm poor, there's a difference. I'd rather be poor than cheap." he retorted jokingly as Artemis made her way across the rooftop and hopped over to one across a narrow alley. "Seriously I could just swing you across I do it all the time." he said, fallowing her lead and catching up to her quickly.

"I just met you like ten minutes ago and I find out you're covered in alien and you want to hold me close while swinging over four stories up from the ground?" she asked skeptically. Mark held back a snicker that Toxin didn't seem to find very amusing, when they reached the edge of the building she pointed towards a motel a few blocks away that she mentioned, 'Straight shot to the place from here."

"Thank you." he said gratefully, "And now's when I ask if you could show me to my bed." he said, echoing her words from earlier jokingly to bring a actual smile to her face. "Really though I apricate it….so I guess I'll see you around?" he hoped.

The amusement on her face made him hopeful, "Depends. You want to see me again?" she asked as she turned around and walked away with her head turned over her shoulder to look at him. The host couldn't help but apricate the archer's form, while feminine she clearly had put a lot of time into keeping herself in peak form.

 ** _Oh he want's to see a lot more of you._** Toxin's voice snickered in his brain, Mark wished that his bodily roommate came with a mute button.

"Well I might be staying in town, wouldn't mind a local showing me around. You know, where the nearest comic book store is, where the best sandwich place is, oh and where the local bad guys hang out." he replied, he didn't know anywhere in Gotham so having someone as a guide, especially as a costumed guide, wouldn't hurt so that he doesn't encroach on someone else's territory. He wasn't sure if he was going to stay here but until he can scrounge enough money together for a ticket out of here? He might be staying a while.

The archer smiled slyly, "Hmmm, not sure if you could keep up with me…I might be around say, Gotham Central Station tomorrow night. You manage to find me there….I might show you a thing or two." she teased lightly, twisting herself around to face him from the opposite side of the roof. Leaning against the ledge and crossing one leg over the other and braced herself against the ledge with both her hands on either side.

 ** _He could think of a few things you could show him. Wow she is making this way too easy._** Toxin thought.

 _I'm pretty sure that's the point._ Mark thought bluntly before speaking out loud, "So a little hide and seek? Alright, I'm game." he accepted, causing the archer's smirk to widen a little. Mark felt a small sense of happiness that she seemed to look forward to it as much as he did.

"It's a date." The archer stated before falling back off the ledge, quickly drawing her bow and shooting a line to swing from. The blonde's excited face hidden from the newcomer's view as she swung off from the host and his symbiote. He turned his attention to the hotel as his suit began to change form into red hoodie and blue jeans and the rest of the alien seeping into his skin.

Mark could swear he felt Toxin nodding, **_I've always wondered what human mating customs where on his planet…..not bad Mark. I think she wishes to mate with you!_** his friend said expectedly. The host could only facepalm at his partner's blunt explanation of it, while he learned a lot from Peter the one thing he didn't think would be good to learn from him was when it came to girls, for that he went to both Mary Jane and Black Cat about that particular subject.

MJ simply advised him to have fun and act a little coy, while Black Cat told him that girls like it when flirted with, but not to take it too far so that they aren't uncomfortable…. obviously he didn't tell either that what he learned from the other since those two had enough bad blood between them already. _Toxin I don't even know this girl, besides I really do need to figure my way around the city._ he explained as he vaulted over the ledge and landed on the empty street before making his way towards the Open Arms as Artemis had suggested

 ** _But wait she called it a date though. That's what it means when you want to court someone right?_** the symbiote asked.

He shook his head, _No Tox that was flirting…..alright see, flirting can depend on who your talking to…..alright you know how me and you say things to each other like I'll set you on fire but you know I would never do that?_ he felt Toxin nod in the back of his mind. _Well flirting is a form of that, she's attractive to me so I flirt with her but it doesn't mean that I love her like Pete loves MJ._

Toxin took his host's words in as they neared the motel, **_Ok so it's like a form of banter?_**

 _Exactly. But not everyone is directly fond of it right off the bat like her. I just did it because she did first._ he explained as they approached the entrance to the motel where the attendant was sitting at the desk. Reaching into the pocket of his hoodie, the symbiote made his wallet appear in his pocket for him to grab so he could pay for the night. After getting his room key he was about to exit the lobby when his own Spider Sense rang in his head. Stopping in place he looked around and waited for whatever set it off.

The first thig that Peter taught him was that no matter how much it seemed insignificant, to ALWAYS listen to his Spider Sense. However after waiting a few moments and not noticing anything that was immediately dangerous he walked outside, **_Well that was weird…wonder what set it off?_** Toxin asked his host who could answer with a shrug as he made his way to his temporary abode for the evening.

As he opened the door to his room however both the Host and Symbiote failed to notice the pair of onyx eyes watch them through a pair of binoculars from a rooftop. _So that's what our mystery man looks like under his alien friend._ Artemis thought as she lowered the binoculars. She was not going to trust some mystery guy the night she met him so she doubled back after making sure he had left the rooftop and poised herself somewhere she could see the front door to the motel office.

 _He does look like a normal guy but still, can't be too careful…..it's weird, it looked like he was listening to someone._ she thought, holstering the binoculars in her quiver and began to make her way back home to her mother.

Meanwhile inside the motel room, Mark pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Peter's number as Toxin shifted into a pair of sweats and a loose tee shirt. _'Hello, Parker residence where all your dreams come true.'_ Peter's voice answered, making Mark smile.

"Hey Peter, I just wanted to call and tell you I made it to Gotham." he replied as a tendril came out from his arm and grabbed the remote off the bedside table and began clicking through channels.

 _'_ Oh I know, you know why? Guess who came by today and asked me what you were doing there? I'll give you a hint, he's big, brooding, and has pointy ears.' Peter said, making Mark wince. 'I just told him that you were vacationing…..he didn't think it was funny.'

"He doesn't think anything is funny…other than that, how's MJ?" he asked s Toxin settled on a movie channel.

'She's fine. And kind of moody….it's weird what pregnancy does to a woman. Today she wanted a tuna sandwich….MJ hates tuna. Think it's possible she's possessed?' Peter asked, Mark had the suspicion that he was doing that as he was speaking to him from the other side of the phone.

"Yeah by a small demon you put in her and will hatch in six months." Mark joked, Toxin laughed from inside his mind at Peter's expense. "Look Pete, you fight Doc Ocks, Goblins, and Rhinos on a semi weekly basis, you can handle this." he reassured. He had seen Peter go through things that most men wouldn't recover from, in fact if he was being honest Mark thought that he was one of the greatest heroes of all along with Batman and Superman.

'Thanks Mark….so how's the homestead search going? You gotta be missing New York by now." he said, the host to the symbiote smiling fondly as he thought of his old home. However the past three months of his life had been like a road trip, going from city to city and trying to see what fits, so har he'd been to Washington D.C., Boston, and Metropolis, with stops to New York to visit the Parkers. He would stay a few days or maybe a week before packing up and leaving for the next city, however so far none of them stood out to him.

But so far Gotham strangely seemed to be somewhat of a fit for him, maybe it was because Toxin wasn't as friendly looking as Spider-man? Maybe it was because while bad guys think Batman was some sort of monster, Toxin actually could be a monster…..or the fact that he met a very attractive archer girl his first night here could be a factor as well. **_Oooh The Thing! I love this one._** Toxin said, finding a good movie to watch before setting the remote down on the nightstand.

"It's not too bad, I'm busy all the time here so that's a plus. Who knows maybe I could get a small neighborhood here to patrol while Batman deals with the big bad stuff?" he said hopefully.

'Yeah good luck with that. Look I gotta go, I'll tell MJ you called. Stay safe.' Peter said.

"Back at you Pete." he said before hanging up, using a tendril to turn off the light in the room and climbing into the bed and watching the movie along with Toxin as the symbiote made a small tiny head on his shoulder and watched along with him.

* * *

The next day in Gotham Mark spent wandering the city looking for a place he could make some money, the cash he started his journey with was starting to dwindle and needed to refill his funds. Thankfully he found a help wanted sign near where he was staying, a small Bar called the Stacked Deck, after inquiring inside the bartender didn't seem phased that he was a minor and put him on a trail run from noon to five.

Thankfully with Toxin keeping the orders memorized for him he served all the patrons what they wanted. But the best part was that this bar was frequented by criminals, it wasn't the Iceberg Lounge or anything but Mark had overheard a good percentage of the customers talking about jobs that they pulled. As he set down a tray under the bar, the owner, a large, muscular, bald man with a greying goatee, approached him, "Not bad for your first time tending bar kid."

Mark nodded in appreciation, "Thanks sir, I'm happy to hear it." he said with a hint of pride.

The bartender nodded, "Look, I can't pay you tonight but you can start here tomorrow. Hours are the same, pays about $25.50 a hour, and tips are yours to keep. Sound good?" he asked. The teen and Toxin both did the math in their head, over a hundred dollars a night and if he worked only weekdays that would make it to five hundred dollars a week!

Mark nodded with enthusiasm, "Sounds good to me sir." he said, causing the older ma to actually smirk a little.

"Quit the 'sir' crap, call me Sully. Everyone here does." he said before grabbing a bottle from the rack behind them and readying a drink for one of the patrons at the barstool. "Now get out of here, the next temp will be here soon." he said, the teen nodding as he took his apron off and made his way towards the door flap to the bar and setting it on the hook beside it and exiting the bar.

As he left the bar he noticed that the sun was just beginning to drop towards the horizon to the west, **_Excited for you're hot date?_** Toxin asked in the back of his mind. The host made his way down the street to an alley to change in before leaping up onto the wall and beginning to crawl up the side of the building and around the corner before swinging off into the city.

 _Well…maybe, why did you have any plans tonight?_ He asked his partner as they reached the apex of their swing and let go, flinging himself through the air until he created another line to swing from. _Besides it's been a while since we worked with someone._

 ** _He says to the living being who gives him all his powers._** Toxin thought back dryly, making his host pause in thought as he swung under a railway and up over the side as a train passed by on it.

 _Ok fair point but I mean more in terms of variety. I mean we worked with Peter for two or three years and when you boil it down it's like two Spider-Men. Only ne can change their suit into weaponry._ he thought as he raised his hand, the symbiote turning it into a bladed axe before shifting it back. _From what I can tell, Artemis has a mini arsenal on her back with her arrows._ he pointed out.

 ** _Yeah good point…..we might want to warn her about using fire arrows around us….or sonics._** Toxin added, Mark nodded in agreement. While some might say that the symbiotes are more powerful versions of Spider-Man, they also had something Peter didn't, a weakness. Like kryptonite to the man of steel Symbiotes were vulnerable to both fire and intense sonics, this was due to the fact that since they were born in space they didn't evolve with natural defenses to those elements.

Mark shook those thoughts off as the train he rode continued through the city. _Really hope I got the right train. The schedule we picked up said this line goes all the way to central station._

 ** _I'm sure, but aren't you getting there a little early? She said tonight, not sunset._** Toxin pointed out. **_According to TV girls don't like clingy guys._** he reprimanded.

 _First off, you're talking to me about being clingy? And second, I want to grab a bite at the station. I've been around food all day! I'm hungry._ the host explained as a large train station came into view around the bend of the tracks and buildings. It was three story building with the top having a glass roof above the tracks where the trains entered from As they neared the large building the red and dark blue suit began to shimmer until he was invisible, as the train pulled to a stop he dropped from the train and blended with the crowd while Toxin returned him to his normal look.

Finding a place to eat was easy, however the challenge came from Mark having to eat for both him and Toxin, usually the symbiote would feed off whatever adrenaline that the host produces but since Mark isn't constantly pumping it he makes up for it with the energy he gets from food. Thankfully Toxin burned most of the calories he gained and his activities as a superhero doubled as daily exercise for him.

After getting a large hardy meal, he paid for the food and made his way out of the station's front entrance. _Ok, if you were an archer where would you be?_ Mark asked his other half as he scanned their surroundings for where an Archer would be.

 ** _Well probably somewhere high up where she could see everything right?_** Toxin guessed, the host looked up towards the rooftops, most of them overlooked the train station but there was only one that offered the best view of the area was at a clocktower rising above the other buildings nearby. **_Of course it's a clocktower. Just wait, we'll get there just when the bells go off._**

 _Relax Tox. We'll see if she's there and if not we'll try and see where she's at._ he assured his other half as he started making his way towards the tower. _Besides most modern clock towers have speakers._

 ** _And this city is still stuck in the last century._** Toxin replied bluntly, Mark decided to shut up and make his way to the tower.

By the time he reached the base of the suspected rendezvous the sun was just beginning to set over the horizon. Finding a place to change, the pair crawled up the side of the clocktower, Toxin being relieved that there were actually no bells inside when the clock struck the hour. When Mark reached the belfry, he peeked over the ledge and found an arrow pointed right at the center of his face while Artemis looked at him with a smirk. "Took you long enough, I've been here for the past hour."

Mark climbed up as she let off on her bow, "So what're you gonna show me?" he asked as a few black lines came out from his back and hung pulled him a few feet above the ground with his legs tucked in underneath him. While Peter hung upside down when he talked to people he usually did something akin to this, finding it more comfortable then having all his blood rush to his head.

The archer's lips twitched as she walked towards the outcropping of the belfry and leaned her forearm against the stone frame, "You up for stopping a train robbery?" she asked before looking out to the station as Mark's eyes widened at the prospect, "Once a month this little gang sticks up a random train in the city, every car all at once with one gunman in each." she explained.

"Your kidding me! How hasn't the police caught them?" the host asked in disbelief, such a bold crime had to illicit some sort of response from the local law enforcement.

Artemis let out a muffled chuckle, "Welcome to Gotham City." she replied simply as he dropped from his webs and walked over to the small balcony beside the archer as she watched a train enter the station, "The Bat hasn't cracked down on them yet since they just started doing this three months ago, and they make sure not to kill anyone unless they need to. If they don't cooperate they just beat whoever doesn't fallow as a warning." she explained.

The symbiote's eyes narrowed, **_How about we see how they like getting the crap beaten out of them?_** Toxin suggested with a growl to his voice. As much as he agreed with Toxin he couldn't give into the anger Toxin had.

"What's the plan?" he asked bluntly, "We can't stake out every train at once." he pointed out.

She shook her head, "No you're right we can't but I looked at the trains they've already robbed and saw that they never hit the same one twice. And it's always after the train leaves this station." she explained.

"So they're only so smart." the host surmised, "Alright then what's the plan? We won't know what train they'll be on until they start the heist so how do we stop them?" he asked. If there were more than two of them it'd be easy as assigning one person to a train but with just the two of them? He didn't see how they could pull it off.

Artemis sighed with frustration. "That's the rub….so far they've robbed three of the eight trains that come through here this time of day. And usually they start robbing as soon as it leaves the station, the system is automated so there's no driver to stop or call it in." She'd been planning this for the past few days but with just her she couldn't figure anything else but wait until their targets thin out, but with Toxin she had hopped that with his mobility he could check multiple trains, but even then there was margin for error. "How fast can you swing?" she asked.

The host thought for a moment, _Tox?_

 ** _I'd say at full speed? Maybe over a hundred miles an hour?_** the symbiote guessed.

"Fast enough to hit more than one train." he translated to the archer. "But how will we coordinate?" he asked. The archer simply pulled out a flip phone and tossed it to him. The host caught it and opened it to see there was a number already put in it, "I was going to ask for your number after but this works too." he said, causing Toxin to snicker in the back of his mind while the blonde smirked.

"That's a dummy phone number. You want my number, you got to impress me first." she replied.

* * *

Mark crawled along the side of the train as it rode the tracks through Gotham city, a tendril reached out from the side of his mask and looked inside the car through the tendril. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening, **_Ok this makes the second one that's fine._** the symbiote said as the tendril withdrew back into his suit. The teen launched himself from the side of the train car and spun a webline out, **_Ok the Artemis hasn't called yet so then that narrows it to two other possible trains._** Toxin thought.

 _Right. So if they're not on the next one-_ the host began before he felt a vibration, _….that's the phone isn't it?_ he thought to his friend as he twisted himself around and shot a webline out towards the second line that Artemis took. Letting go of the webline he landed on a rooftop and sprinted across to the other side where he leapt off just as the train Artemis was on passed below him, landing on the roof he heard gunshots. Meanwhile inside the car, Artemis peeked out from the door of the train car before recoiling back as a bullet hit the doorframe from one of the gunmen.

She had been lucky enough to get on the same train as the muggers had targeted, unfortunately she had been caught by one of the muggers and she took him down but he alerted the rest of his partners on the train. Thankfully most of the people knew to get down the second his friend pulled out a gun and started shooting at her, Artemis could have taken the gunman at the end of the car down with no issue if he hadn't taken a hostage.

The little boy he had grabbed was either too scared to speak or the man had his arm around his neck too tightly. She took a deep breath, as she was about to pop out from cover and fire a concussive arrow however, the metal above their hears shrieked open, she looked out from the corner of the doorway to see the gunman look up and fire at the newly formed hole in the ceiling as a black arm reached through and grabbed him by the face and pulled both him and the boy through the ceiling.

The man held the boy in a death grip as he was brought face to face with a pair of narrow black eyes as the jaw of the head before him unlatched and a row of white fangs opened up with a long green tongue slithered out. As the man became horrified from the sight, dark blue tendrils came out from his chest and grabbed the boy from the man as the gunman became limp. The boy coughed from the pressure around his neck as his savior spoke, **"Drop. The. Gun."** his voice came out like something from a nightmare and the gunman did as he said.

Toxin proceeded to lift the man up high before throwing him down through the hole with enough force to make the entire train car shake. The boy soon fallowed with Toxin's tendrils gently lowering inside next to the man who had taken him hostage, as the tendrils withdrew, one of the patted him on the head, making the boy let out a short chuckle before his father closed in on him and embraced him.

Artemis finally let out the breath she had been holding to take her shot and moved to the next car, that was two down and six to go. However just as she thought that the door to the next car opened with one of the gunman, next thing he knew Artemis's combat boot was in his gut with the other knocking him upside the head as she flipped off him and drew an arrow, firing at him a shock arrow with stunned him.

The next car she entered she found the gunman webbed to the window, upside down with his pants drawn down showing his heart printed boxers. She had to stop herself from laughing at the sight as she quickly move onto the next car. _Only two left._ she thought as she opened the door to the next car, only to find herself staring down the barrel of a gun. As he began to pull the trigger, Artemis twisted her bow so the stock hit the gun upwards, firing it into the ceiling she drove her fist into his gut and bashed the side of his face with her bow. _Correction, last one._ she thought as she moved past the next two cars.

Reaching the door at the end of the next car she heard gunfire. Sliding the door open she saw that Toxin had beaten her here but was busy. This guy had to be the brains of the outfit, he had gathered all the civilians at the end of the car with his gun trained on them. But Toxin was standing between them as he unloaded his handguns into the symbiote which had spread itself out across the entire width of the car so no one would get shot.

However this left it's host with less of the symbiote to block the bullets and one had clipped his shoulder as evidenced by the red liquid seeping from his wound. She let loose an arrow before she realized it, the concussive tip would leave a large lump on the back of his head tomorrow. As he began to crawl on the floor towards his gun, a black boot crushed his hand, looking up he saw that Toxin was not pleased, "Wall or ceiling?" he asked.

"What?' the leader asked before a thick tendril grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him off the ground.

"Which one do you want me to put you through?" Toxin growled out, the man clearly thought he was serious as evident by him wetting his pants.

 ** _BWAHAHAHAHA! He peed himself! I can't believe it!_** Toxin howled with laughter in his host's head as the suit wrapped the thug in a cocoon of webbing and attached it to the ceiling.

When the train pulled into the station a few minutes later, police led by Harvey Bullock flooded the cars and found all the gunmen already taken care of, wrapped up in some sort of black substance. The heavy set detective frowned as the men were carried out of the car, grabbing his radio from his trench coat he radioed the station, "Hey commish? You might want to call in the bat for this one."

Meanwhile a few blocks away on top of an abandoned apartment building's rooftop, Artemis winced as the bullets toxin took were pushed out from the host's skin by the symbiote, Toxin himself was guilt ridden from his host's injuries, **_I'm so sorry Mark! I was distracted and…and…_**

 _Toxin you're fine, you protected everyone else in the car, that's the number one priority._ he reassured, trying to ease his partner's concern.

Artemis meanwhile watched with some concern as the webslinger's suit removed the bullets, it was somewhat unnerving to watch. "Are you….ok?" she asked, making him stiffen and draw him out of his inner conversation.

"Yeah, sorry just…..Toxin is fixing me up." he said nonchalantly, causing the archer to look at him with confusion. Realizing how weird that sounded out loud the host began to explain, "Well the alien is sentient and talks to me, I named him Toxin since….well Venom and Carnage? It hits the motif." he said with a shrug as the last of the bullets were pulled out, "There, good as new." he said happily as he stood from the AC unit he was siting on.

"Woah, woah, wait, that thing is alive? And it's…..living inside you?" Artemis questioned, saying it oud loud sounded a little disgusting but what offset her was how….personal that was. From the way that he made it sound it was like he was never alone or had any secrets between him and the alien. "I thought it was something like the Green Lantern's ring."

Mark rubbed the back of his head, "I mean yeah it was weird at first, but after a few months I got used to it and now…..well do you want to talk to him? You might see what I mean." he offered, taking the archer off guard. She slowly nodded, her curiosity getting the better of her as a thin tendril came out from his outstretched hand, Artemis softly grabbed it and suddenly felt….different. She assumed that his suit felt like something from a monster movie, like slime or something but instead it felt more like a sort of jelly.

 ** _Hello._** A voice in her head greeted her, making her jump slightly, **_Well um…..I'm Toxin, nice to meet you. This is Mark-_**

Both Artemis' and Mark's eyes widened, "Tox you just said my name!" he exclaimed loudly while the green archer tried to stifle a laugh. The host noticed her amusement, "See what I mean?" he asked, "He's not annoying or anything…..at least not most of the time. I just wish I could mute him sometimes." he joked.

Toxin perked up in both their minds, **_Oh yeah this reminds me, Artemis, were you flirting with Mark yesterday?_** he asked bluntly, Artemis couldn't see Mark's face through the mask of the suit but if she assumed that beneath it was blushing. **_He did also refer to you as sexy archer girl._** the symbiote added, causing a sly grin to spread across the blonde's exposed features.

 _Toxin? Shut up. Now._ the host thought privately to his partner, the symbiote took the hint and recalled the tendril, inadvertently pulling Artemis' hand into his. _You little goo ball I swear to whatever deity symbiotes believe in I'll-_

"So, sexy archer girl?" she asked playfully, not noticing where her hand was at the moment or simply not caring, but he wasn't going to stop her.

Recomposing himself the teen spoke again, "I'm hoping you take it more as a compliment if anything." he said honestly.

Artemis' eyes became half-lidded, giving her a suggestive look, "Oh I do, just don't think a few flattering words will get you anywhere." she advised, finally noticing that she was holding his hand she slipped out of his grip. Her smirk didn't waver as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, "But you did impress me earlier with pulling the guy through the roof of the train." she admitted before slipping the paper into his palm.

Mark smiled coyly beneath his suit, "I guess that means you enjoyed our little date?" he guessed, remembering how Artemis had phrased it before leaving him the night prior.

She took a step forward, her face a few inches from his. For a split second Mark thought she was going to kiss him, or Toxin rather, but she only spoke, "Yeah I did….but if you want a real date…..call me tomorrow night and we can meet up."

"Out of costume?" Mark asked curiously.

She clicked her tongue as she backed off, "As in civvies….maybe. But if you're hoping to get me out of this?" she gestured to her costume, "You're going to need to put some work in." she joked, making her way towards the ledge she gave him a two fingered salute, "See you around Mark." she bade farewell before shooting a rope arrow and grappling to the next building.

Toxin's voice in his head drew his focus away from Artemis' retreating shape, **_Well…..that went well._**

 _You spilled my secret identity._ Mark replied bluntly, stomping his way towards the ledge as well and shooting a webline.

 ** _Ok but….why are you so uptight about it? I mean what's she going to do? She's a good guy! Least that's what I picked up from her when I connected with her._** the symbiote nonchalantly asked. Toxin did understand why a secret identity was important to some heroes like Peter or Superman, but for Mark he didn't see why it was a problem since he could make Mark a new identity by changing how he looks.

However this simply made Mark frown, "Toxin you didn't like probe her mind or anything did you?" he asked, with him being the symbiote's only host, Toxin didn't quite grasp the concept of privacy. He always chalked it up to Toxin's nature with him bonding with a host but he seemed to think this translated to humans as well.

 ** _No I didn't….I mean I got a sort of general feel from her but in the same way I can tell when MJ is mad at us._** the alien explained.

 _Mad at you for assuming control of my body and eating an entire chocolate cake? Gee I wonder why?_ he thought sarcastically. Something that he, MJ, or even Peter ever expected was that symbiotes love chocolate, as in they LOVE it. Toxin vaguely explained that it had something to do with a chemical found in the sweet but he still didn't completely buy it.

 ** _But….I sensed she's really….protective of herself. But she wasn't nervous around you, or well….not nervous, she just let her guard down a little bit._** he tried to explain the best he could.

Thinking back on their first talk with one another, Artemis didn't exactly say much to anything about herself while he kind of laid everything out for her….but if he was going to form any type of partnership with her while he was here in Gotham, he could at least learn some more about her. _Look Tox we'll talk more tomorrow, right now I just want to crash._ he thought as he landed on the roof of the motel he was staying at and flipped over the side as his suit changed into normal clothes once again.

Entering the room he was staying at, he took a mental note to start looking for a permeate place to live tomorrow while Toxin changed him into his sleepwear. The teen flinched in pain as he climbed into bed, rolling his sleeve up he looked at the damage from the bullet, Toxin being his partner did give him a healing factor but he had a small number of scars he built up over his career. Mostly from mistakes he made when first starting out but nothing too serious.

As the host and symbiote drifted off into sleep, Toxin gently pulled the covers up over his host before they both drifted off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chance Encounter**

 _Thinking_

'Radio/Phone'

 _'Telepathy'_

 ** _Symbiote speaking to Host_**

* * *

If Mark had to say one of the best thing being the host to a symbiote was, it might have to be how convenient it made his life as a whole. Since Toxin could form whatever clothing he wanted he had no need to buy new clothing for himself, he could also absorb most small objects like his phone, wallet, keys, and anything else really so he never lost anything. He didn't need a car since he could web swing mostly anywhere in the city, in fact the only thing he needed to spend money on was food and place to live.

So in a way, living on the road was kind of the perfect fit for him and Toxin. But Gotham seemed to be where they were settling so they needed to find a more permanent residence. In other words, he needed to find the right neighborhood he could make friendly for others, so after looking online for apartments in bad neighborhoods he found a slew of them in the Gotham Village district, which had a fairly high crime rate.

Waking up early he checked out the apartment he had in mind, it was close to his place of work as well as the subway line. After going to work at the bar and getting paid, he immediately made his way to the apartment he had picked out and met the realter he called that morning. After signing the paperwork, paying for the month in advance, and using the rest of his paycheck to buy some food, he had officially finished moving in to Gotham.

Creating a web hammock, Mark hopped onto the black webbing and pulled out his phone. **_Thinking of calling you're girlfriend?_** Toxin teased in his mind. He knew that the blonde archer had been on his host's mind all day long but had kept quiet about it until now. Mainly he was thinking about who she was when not in costume, what the symbiote wanted to know was why she was dressing up like Green Arrow.

 _First off, not my girlfriend. And secondly, yeah. Again we have no plans tonight what else are we going to do?_ he asked while he called her number he had saved to his phone.

Toxin would roll his eyes if he could, **_Sure. Keep telling yourself that._** The alien replied without a hint of convincement while the host dropped from the web hammock. The apartment consisted of three rooms, a large room with a kitchen on the far side, a bedroom on the wall opposite which was connected to the only bathroom.

The phone was on the fourth ring when the other side picked up, 'Mark?' Artemis' voice picked up on the other end.

He smiled at her voice, "Expecting my call?" he teased lightly as he walked into his bedroom. Changing his clothes into his suit, he left his head uncovered so he could continue to talk without his voice sounding muffled.

She chuckled on the other side, 'You wish. I'm already out, you want to meet up?' she guessed.

"What happened to out of costume interaction?" he asked with mock disappointment, "I was going to take you on a magical swing through the narrows on our way to amusement mile." he explained, listing some of the worst places in the city. "Or would you prefer a night in at my newly, unfurnished apartment with only a TV that gets six channels?" he proposed jokingly.

'As tempting as those options both sound I'm going to have to pass on that. But if your up for a stakeout, meet me at the Midtown Gotham Mall. There's been a bunch of robberies there lately and it'd be a good place to start for the night.' she explained, Mark smiled. After a busy day like today a Stakeout sounded perfect.

"I shall bring snacks. Any preferences?" he asked.

* * *

"Ok I did not expect Big Belly Burger." Mark said as he handed Artemis the bag with her order to her. The rooftop overlooking the back entrance to the mall was an ideal point for them to stakeout, they both took a seat on a air vent extruding out from the building's side and over the roof to an AC unit. The takeout bag sat between Artemis and Mark, the archer digging into her cheeseburger while Mark retracted his mask up to his nose to expose his mouth.

 ** _Who cares!? Gimmme, gimme, gimme!_** Toxin's excited voice rang though his host's mind. Mark rolled his eyes as he pulled out a chocolate milkshake and placed it on the makeshift table beside him. **_Yessssssss._** the symbiote squealed out in joy before sending a tendril out to slurp the treat down. Mark rolled his eyes beneath his suit at his partner's excitement, Toxin went nuts whenever he was near chocolate, it always amused the host since it made Toxin sound like a kid.

Artemis watched with mild amusement, "So aliens like chocolate?" she asked amusingly, Toxin paid her no mind and continued to happily slurp the sweet liquid despite the archer's question.

"Symbiotes like it, don't ask me why but Tox is a total chocolate addict." Mark said before taking a bite of his own burger with BBQ sauce. Swallowing the food he resumed speaking, "He'll take in whatever proteins, iron, or whatever I do when I eat food so I gotta eat for two sometimes….does keep me in shape though." he said with a shrug.

The archer finished her burger and wiped her lips off with a napkin before speaking, "So I've been wondering….how did you two meet?" she asked curiously. When alien first came to mind the first image that came to her mind was little green men or Superman, nothing like a liquid being that bonds to a person. When he was quiet for a moment she quickly added, "If you don't mind me asking, if it's personal or something you don't need to spill."

Mark shook his head, "Nah it's fine, just surprised it took you so long to ask. My charm working that well?" he joked, Artemis rolled her eyes at his boasting. He set his food down before talking, "You know Spider-Man right? Red and blue? Swings around New York?" he asked, she nodded in confirmation. "Ok you hear about Venom? Or Carnage?" he asked more tentatively. The way her eyes slightly widened gave him his answer, a few years ago, Carnage broke out of the Ravencroft institute along with a number of psychopaths and wrought havoc upon New York while Spider-Man, Venom, Black Cat, and a few other street level heroes were left to try and stop them while the Justice League was busy elsewhere.

The Maximum Carnage incident as it came to be known as left over three thousand dead, and they symbiote known as Carnage gained worldwide infamy for leading the act. "Well, Toxin….well he's basically Carnage's kid." he explained bluntly, finding no other way to really put it.

Artemis did a double take, "Wait what!? Carnage actually got a girl to…." she trailed off, really not wanting to mentally picture how twisted someone would have to be.

Both Toxin and Mark were also put off by what she implied. "What? No, symbiotes are asexual." Mark clarified. _Thank god….uh no offense Tox._ He quickly thought, not meaning to offend his friend.

 ** _None taken. I don't see what the big deal is to be honest._** The symbiote replied with indifference.

Artemis took that information much better, actually chuckling a little to herself, "Where's the fun in that?" she asked casually, Mark was sure if he was leaning on something he would have fallen over from the way she said it. He took another bite to calm his nerves while he felt Artemis turn herself over to him, "But that still doesn't answer how you two met."

Finishing off his food, the host took a deep breath and quickly let it out. "I was heading home one night when I heard this loud explosion. Naturally being a dumb kid I went to check it out and saw Carnage there after….birthing." he said, they both looked disgusted at the mental image before he resumed. "He saw me but he didn't try and kill me, he just slung past me. I didn't notice him plant Toxin on me so he could grow. Later that night he tracked me down to my house and tried to kill me."

This confused Artemis, "But you said he implanted Toxin on you, why would he attack you and try and kill you if he wanted Toxin to….." she trailed off. As her brain began to comprehend what he was getting at, Toxin began counting down in his head until her eyes widened, "He wanted to kill Toxin?" she asked, the symbiote in question made a ringing sound to show she was correct, "Why?"

The eyes on Mark's mask narrowed in a way which gave him a deadpanned expression, "She asks about the same man who was put in an asylum." he stated bluntly before the suit covered his mouth. "Every symbiote spawn is more stronger than their parent. Carnage didn't want someone stronger than him if he could help it so….he didn't kill anyone that time thank god, Spidey saved my ass even when Venom showed up to do the same thing." he informed.

The archer frowned at his story, "Eventually Carnage found my parents and….well yeah." he told, sparing her the exact details. "After that Spidey homeschooled me so that I wouldn't attract Venom or Carnage to any schools." he explained, it was actually a very brilliant stroke on Peter's part to take him out of school due to his own experiences as a high school superhero. He even graduated a year early with Peter's guidance.

Artemis was silent for a the next few seconds, "I'm sorry." it was all she could say, or at least it was all she could think to say.

The host shrugged, "It's ok…..man that kinda brought down the mood." he joked lightly, making a small smile appear on Artemis' exposed feature. "So what about you? I mean obviously you're not a fan of Batman otherwise you'd be wearing more red and yellow." he joked. Artemis' body tightened up at his question and he immediately regretted asking, he remembered what Toxin said about her being guarded about her personal life.

Artemis wasn't feeling quiet offended but more conflicted, Mark had been surprisingly open to her despite her not saying anything about herself. She even knew what he looked like beneath the suit, though he didn't know that, and yet he only knew her codename. It seemed unfair, "I…" the words quickly died in her throat.

Mark held up a hand, "It's cool if you don't want to get into it." he quickly said.

This frustrated Artemis, "No it's not, I mean you're being so….forthcoming about….alot and…." she trailed off before mumbling something.

"What?" Mark asked.

Artemis sighed, "I said….I also know what you look like." she admitted with shame, making the host and symbiote's eyes widen. "I doubled back after sending you to the open arms, I wasn't sure if you were being totally honest and in case you weren't well…"

Mark felt a small sting of betrayal but if he was to be honest, he couldn't exactly blame her, he arrived out of nowhere and was surprisingly friendly to her. That seemed to be rare in Gotham, **_Wait so when I ask why it's such a big deal to have a secret identity it ends with you basically lecturing me. But when a pretty girl is involved, it's all forgive and forget?_** Toxin asked in his head, making the teen frown.

 _Well…..I…ok yeah you got me there._ he thought. He didn't have any more living family that could be put in danger, and while Peter and MJ did take him in, they weren't listed as his legal guardians at the behest of one of Peter's teammates on the Justice League. Probably Batman if he were to guess.

"…..so am I like a one or a ten in terms of looks?" he asked, taking Artemis off guard by the question. She looked at him like he just grew a second head, "What I just want to know how I stack up." he said, trying not to laugh at her dumbfounded look.

It wasn't long before she broke into a smirk, "Depends, didn't get a good enough look." she teased, she didn't expect the entire mask covering his face to retract. The grin he had made her want to hit him, "You cheeky little…" she growled out with a hint of playfulness. "You really do not care do you?" she asked.

The host rubbed the back of his head, "No I do but…..I've met about a handful of people including you in the city and you're honestly the one I know best." he said simply, a small part of Artemis was flattered by the statement and the other part wanted to laugh, that usually was the case when it came to Gotham City, about a handful of people you really knew but only a few of them that you could really trust.

But still she was touched by the gesture of trust, but instead of trying to converse a part of her life to him again she decided something more….similar. Reaching up to her face she took the rim of her mask between her forefinger and thumb before pulling it down, exposing her own face to the shocked host. Seeing the grin get wiped off his face brought one to her's, "So am I a one or ten?" she asked mockingly.

"Nine point five." he said without hesitation, the look on his face made it clear he didn't mean to say it out loud. The grin Artemis had now rivaled the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Regaining what composure he could manage, which was a futile effort on his part, he replied, "Point five comes off because I still don't know your name."

"It's Artemis." she said simply.

"No I mean you're real name." he clarified/ However when Artemis didn't correct herself he realized that she was in fact being truthful with him, "Wait, you're actual name is Artemis?" he asked in disbelief. She simply nodded in response, "Huh…..your parents must really like Greek Mythology. Either that or they have the power of foresight." he said, glancing at the bow and quiver on her back.

"I'm pretty sure it was the former." she said with hint of bitterness in her voice which Mark noticed. He made a mental note to try and not bring up her family, the scowl she now had indicating it was a sore subject to bring up.

"Ok….well then, that brings you up to a ten." he said suddenly, Artemis looked over at him with the same sly look she gave him the night before. She moved herself a little closer to him, suddenly Mark's throat felt a tad dry as she leaned a little close, not enough to touch him but just enough so that the slightly movement would make it so.

"You know…this isn't so bad for a first date." she stated with an ever so slightly impressed tone. The host felt his cheeks warm up at her complement but he managed to keep his composure.

"Wait till you see what I got planned for the second one…if you'd be up for it that is." he quickly corrected, not meaning to assume anything. He always found it fun to team up with someone but he just liked hanging out with Artemis, maybe it was because they were around the same age or maybe they just got along well with one another. But he and Toxin both liked her, and more time with her wouldn't be such a bad thing.

The archer opened her mouth to reply but was swiftly cut off by something going over their heads just below the speed of a bullet. **_…ok you both saw that guy go flying by right?_** Toxin asked, the two vigilantes turning their head in the direction the young man went. Only for someone larger to fly right over their heads towards Gotham Academy. **_OK I KNOW YOU BOTH SAW THAT!_** Toxin yelled in Mark's mind as he covered his host's head with the suit and Artemis put her mask back on.

Artemis felt something wrap around her bare waist, looking down she saw that Mark's suit wrapped a tendril around her waist, before she could protest they were flying through the air with a red webline shooting from the top of his hand. Her arms wrapped around his neck in a death grip, her eyes nearly popped out of the holes in her mask when she saw the them approaching the ground.

When they swung back up into the air, the scream she was about to release turned into a whoop of excitement. Toxin launched them overtop a building, they both saw as the larger shape flew towards a large school with the gate reading 'Gotham Academy' on the plate. "Go around the side! We'll scout things out before getting involved!" she shouted over the wind as he threw another webline out and swung around the side of the school.

Spotting a section of the school that looked like a gym, he landed at the base of a tree beside the side wall of the building, letting go of Artemis before she promptly elbowed him in the side, hard. "Next time you think of doing something like that? Warn me." she said in a deadly tone which caused him to nod. Artemis looked up at the tree and leapt up onto a branch, swinging herself up onto it she then proceeded to climb the tree while Toxin merely wall crawled to the window.

They both looked inside the gym and both their eyes widened, in the gym was a large humanoid looking thing that had glowing red eyes and elf ears. But what got both their attention was that the humanoid thing was fighting a trio of teens dressed in costumes while making a tornado with his lower half, Mark recognized two of them as Robin the boy wonder, Kid Flash, and the third was someone he didn't know but wore a black Superman shirt with a simply Red 'S' in the center.

Mark felt his spider sense point behind them, **_Uhhhhhh….Maaarrrrk?_** the teen turned and saw that they were not alone outside. Artemis saw him turn his head and spun around on her heel while drawing an arrow while a pair of tendrils came out of his back, each of them having a sharp red edge to them as he stared down their newcomers. Surrounding them was to dozen…..for lack of a better term, robotic monkeys. Silver bodies with green lights for eyes, mouths, and jetpacks allowing them to fly. **_This might be the weirdest date you've ever been on._** Toxin stated as Artemis fired an arrow through two of the robots at once.

Mark leapt right at them, grabbing two of them and crushing them in his hands while his tendrils whipped through the air and slicked through one each. Crushing their heads in his hands, Toxin threw the remains of the small bots aside at few of the flyers before he was swarmed by six of them. Before he could get them off him, each of them were picked off by smaller arrows fired by Artemis using a crossbow.

Looking over at his ally, he raised his hand and shot two weblines from the top of his hands at a pair of robots each and reeled them back towards him as his fingers extended into claws and sliced through them. Artemis aimed her single handed crossbow at another hostile only for it to be snatched out of her hand by one of the automated primates, as it flew out away from the tree and turned to aim at her, a arrow pierced it's head.

Artemis smirked as she drew another arrow from her quiver, getting a beat on her new target one of the miniaturized robots flew into her back and covered her eyes with it's hands while it's tail coiled around her neck, "Get off!" she shouted before the jets on the monkey's back kicked in and began to lift her up into the air. She acted instinct, drawing an broadhead from her quiver and sticking it through her attacker's head.

Mark saw her fall out the corner of his eye, _Tox catch her!_ he shouted through their lin as he uppercutted another robot into the air and kicking another away. A black webline shot out from his side, stringing together a net between the tree and the building to catch her fall. Landing on the black webbing, Artemis stood up as she retrieved the arrow from the one she stuck it through manually. As she got up she glanced inside and saw that the large humanoid robot had Kid Flash in it's grasp and was crushing the speedster against it's own body.

She cocked the arrow back against the bowstring and aimed it at the robot's head before letting loose. The arrow broke through the window of the gym flying at it's target, however the humanoid saw the projectile and phased it through him! Dropping Kid Flash in the process much to Artemis' shock.

"Artemis! Get down!" Toxin shouted, she looked over as their attackers swarmed him, however she fell flat against the webbing and watched as spikes shot out through the robot monkeys all at once before they retracted back into the suit. The mechanical primates falling off him with a shrug. _Gotta say Tox, your dad is a asshole to say the least but his moves aren't half bad._ he thought, kicking some of the debris off the branch in front of him.

 ** _Yeah but I do them better._** The symbiote boasted to his host as he went to join Artemis by the window. Looking inside they watched as the android phased through another attack. **_Wait a sec….eariler he was doing that thing that robot on the League does with the tornado but now he's phasing like the Martian Manhunter?_** Toxin noticed, peaking his host's interest as the android then let out a sonic scream which looked an awful lot like an canary cry. ** _And that was that sonic attack! Mark he's got the powers of the freaking Justice League! We gotta bail!_** Toxin thought.

 _Calm Down Tox, look maybe if we work with those guys we can-_ He was suddenly caught off as the boy with the superman shirt put his fist through the robot's head as it unphased, the head promptly exploded off the body. _…..do something like that._ the host added while he blinked.

With the glass window broken they could now hear the others inside, "Help me disassemble him! Now!" Robin shouted as he ran over to the body of the apparent android and began to take it apart as Kid Flash walked over holding his arm.

"Dude, the guy has no head." the speedster stated obviously.

"Don't take any chances!" Mark looked over as two new faces appeared, one of them with dark skin, tattoos going down his arms in the shape of some snakes along with a set of gils on the sides of his neck. And the other one a girl who was entirely green with red hair and a blue cape.

"Superboy!" the green girl called with concern as she flew over to the boy with the red 'S' on his shirt.

 ** _That green one, she's a Martian right?_** Toxin asked.

 _Yeah and the tall guy has gills, so he must be Atlantean._ Mark thought back. _They're a team…but I don't think I ever heard of them._ he thought as he recalled all the teams that they both knew, Doom Patrol, Justice Society of America, and the JLA where the only ones he really knew. Looking over at Artemis he saw her eyes light up like the fourth of July, before he could ask what made her so happy he heard sirens off in the distance. "We better go."

The archer turned from the glass to him and nodded, he held a hand out to her but she gave it a suspicious look. "If we do that again? You go slow. Got it?" she asked before taking his hand for him to pull her close as he shot a webline down to the ground to retrieve her crossbow.

"Sorry you just seemed like a girl who likes it fast…..that sounded a lot less sexual in my head." He admitted before swinging them both away from the school.

* * *

Artemis and Mark's feet gently touched down on a rooftop as they reached the end of a webswing. As she requested he swung her as gently as he could so that the ride was, "Madam, your stop." he said in a gentleman's voice as he unwrapped his arm from her waist. "Gotta say that was more exciting than a few mall thieves ." he joked.

"Hell yeah it was!" Artemis said excitedly, "And can you believe that thing got taken down by guys our age?" she asked. Her heart was still racing from the fight, "I so want on that team back there, I mean they don't have an archer and I managed to save Kid Flash back there while dealing with those robot things." she boasted proudly.

Mark raised a finger, "I helped too….just wanted to add that." he said, noticing that Artemis still hadn't stepped away from him.

She grabbed his shoulders, "Yeah you did! That move with the spikes? That was genius." she complimented, her finger tapping against his chest. Mark could swear Toxin was blushing from the blonde's praise even though he couldn't see him, "I so want in." she said with determination in her voice.

However her friend seemed less excited than she was, when Mark fist appeared on the scene as a hero his reputation started as the same as his other symbiote hosts, a monster who swung through the skies of New York City, punishing whoever he deemed to be bad. He got a worse reputation than Spider-Man did, at least a good portion of people thought he was a good guy, Toxin was known far and wide as a monster from outer space who ensnared some poor human.

However instead of trying to deny it, Mark admittedly embraced it, while Spider-Man was the neighborhood watch, Mark watched over the dark scary alleys of NYC. This also transferred over to the Superhero community, outside of Spidey, he'd met Batman, Green Arrow, and the Flash. The first outright told him to watch his step, Green Arrow mistook him for a monster and pelted him with fire arrows until he realized Mark wasn't trying to fight him, and Flash…actually Flash was really nice, couldn't complain about Flash.

However it did give Mark a good picture of how other metahumans saw him, so he never joined any teams or worked with other heroes aside from the rare team up which usually didn't last more than a few hours. So the odds of him getting on a team like that?

 ** _I think we have a better shot at winning the lottery….although if we went to Vegas, disguised ourselves to look older, we could use our spider sense to kill at blackjack._**

 _First off I told you to shelve that idea, and second zip it!_ Mark thought as he noticed the excitement wind down on the archer's expression.

"Yeah….nermind, forget it." she said, reality having caught up with her as she stepped away from Mark, making the teen a little worried he'd done something to upset her. "Look, tonight was fun but…I'm gonna head home." she said abruptly as she started to walk away.

However Mark was always taught to never let a girl go home feeling bad, so leaping over her head he landed in front of her. "Woah, wait, are you…ok? I mean you were really excited a second ago and now your acting like someone let your hamster out it's pen and it got all the way down to the street before it got hit by a car." he said, causing the blonde heroine to blink at his analogy.

"….that's….very specific." she noticed with a hint of suspicion, Mark awaited her response quietly nonetheless. Her first instinct was to withdraw and insist it was nothing, but she thought back to earlier, he had been nothing but blatantly open with her since she met him and the fact that he hadn't expected anything in return was…..nice. Irritatingly nice mind you but still….he didn't know about her family, where she came from. But what he did know was that family doesn't define who one is, he was walking proof of that, so she took a deep breath, "My….mom…she's an ex-con….and my dad…he's not even an ex." she revealed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh….well…..um…..you remember the part where I told you Carnage was Toxin's mother right?" he asked with an amused tone.

He could feel Toxin agree with him, **_Told ya._**

Mark had Toxin retract his mask again, "Look, you're clearly not a bad guy. A bad guy wouldn't have saved Kid Flash back there, what's more you did it without a second thought." he pointed out, Artemis bowed her head at the praise. Mark took a risk and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Artemis I've only known you a few days, but I know that you're a good person. At least I believe you are." he said honestly. "Besides screw them if they don't want you, we have a blast partnering up with you." he added cheerfully.

The archer looked up at him with a small smile as he withdrew his hand, "That's…..very sweet." she said bashfully, still taken off guard just how accepting he was. The host smiled at her unashamed, _…..screw it._ Artemis thought before stepping forward and leaning in. The next thing Mark felt was a pair of soft lips on his cheek, when she pulled away his entire face lit up red and Artemis had to fight the urge to laugh at how flustered he got.

"I….well….um…." he mumbled out before realizing something, "Wait….did we forget about something?"

 ** _…oh man! We forgot the mall!_** toxin said, making Mark widen his eyes. Along with Artemis as she realized it as well on her.

"Crap!" they both exclaimed.

* * *

After returning to the mall, the pair easily dealt with the robbers before each of them heading home for the evening. However a week later, Mark was surprised to hear that the word around town was that Gotham Academy had been vandalized by a rival school over the night and would take longer to open when school began. It was a very bold faced lie to say the least, but the question was why? This was Gotham City, home to crocodile men and guys with freeze guns, it wasn't that far of a stretch for an android to some through town.

 ** _Maybe because it had all the powers of the League and saying it came to Gotham would cause a panic….no never mind, this city has a clown who blows up buildings, the natural state of mind here is panicked._** The symbiote said as Mark walked with a tray of drinks to a table and served them to the patrons there before heading back to behind the Bar. **_What's weird is that no one here is talking about it._** Toxin commented.

The Stacked Deck was a criminal hotspot, nothing illegal happened there but such things were openly discussed. Now the first thing that came to Mark's mind when he heard that crimes would be committed was to stop them right away, but if he did that for everyone that came through here then two things would happen. He'd get less money, and worse yet they might trace him and Toxin's activates back to here.

Not that he ignored the crimes, he just had to be careful about putting too many of these guys away at once.

 _Yeah….maybe the cover up is a government thing? That android could have been made by the military or something and then it had to be stopped._ He offered, he had seen that the same android had fought a few members of the Justice League the day before. However that still didn't explain why sidekicks were the ones handling it at the school.

Setting the food tray back in place. Mark looked across the floor of the bar. The place was smaller as compared to more commercial bars, it had about half a dozen booths with just as many seats at the bar itself. As for entertainment there was a jukebox in the corner, two pool tables in the middle, and a few TV's around showing various channels, one of them having the story about the school being broken into last night.

But as he thought of last night, Mark couldn't help but think of Artemis, she actually opened up to him a little bit by showing her face and giving him her name…..well technically she already did but still. And of course he thought of the kiss, it wasn't anything groundbreaking, just a peck on the cheek. His mom used to do the same thing to him, and she wasn't the first girl he kissed. Mark had a handful of girlfriends, most before he and Toxin met and a few after but they never really went anywhere.

Though he was happy to say that none of the breakups left either of them sour towards the other, life just got in the way for some, while others just fizzled out. And besides if meeting Black Cat taught him anything, it's to never have your ex-girlfriends hate you, because you never know if one of them will become a supervillain.

But what made Artemis different was she and him both were heroes, most of the time he had to call off dates or end relationships because he needed to leave or cancel to save someone. _Not to mention she can kick some ass._ he mentally noted.

 ** _Ok so then why not ask her out on an ACTUAL date instead of these….meet ups?_** Toxin asked as Mark finished writing another patron's order. As Mark walked over to the bar and gave the order to Sully in the kitchen, he felt his phone go off, **_Umm, that's not you're phone, it's the one Artemis gave you._** Toxin corrected as he made the cheap flip phone appear in his pocket.

Pulling it out he saw it was the same number that Artemis used to alert him to the train, opening the phone he was still a little cautious, "Hello?" he answered.

'Mark? Hey, it's me.' Artemis' voice on the other side greeted, 'Have you seen the news about the school?' she asked.

Mark leaned back against the bar, "You kidding it's the only thing I've heard all day." he replied, glancing up at the TV briefly, "But no mention of what we saw last week."

'I'm guessing the League didn't want people to know….maybe that's why they sent their sidekicks? News fallows Superman like fleas on a dog, he can't exactly be doing something covert.' she reasoned. Mark nodded in agreement, superheroes got more attention than celebrities in today's world. He heard the archer clear her throat on the other end, 'So….I was wondering if you had any plans tonight.' she began.

Mark could feel Toxin grin in the back of his mind, **_Well looks like she didn't want to wait on your slow ass to ask her out._** he thought cheekily.

Mark swallowed, "Um, no. Nothing, why?" he asked.

'You want to hang out? I mean outside of costume, just you and me? Maybe get some coffee? I know this place on 43rd street that has great lattés. ' she proposed as Sully put the order out on the window, Mark quickly delivered it to the table before responding to her, he could feel her getting anxious across the phone.

"That sounds great! I'll meet you there. What time?" he asked with a bit of excitement in his voice.

'How does six thirty sound?' she asked.

"Perfect. I'll see you then." he said before bidding her farewell and closing the phone and putting it back in his pocket where Toxin absorbed it into himself. As he went back to work, only Toxin noticed the smile he had, however he didn't say anything or antagonize his friend. He was happy that Mark had found a potential Mate, besides Artemis seemed like a nice enough girl.

However there was one thing that was on his mind, **_Hey Mark…..if you could, would you want to be on that team we saw last night?_** he asked, making his host stop what he was doing for a second before resuming.

 _I don't know Tox, I mean we've never been on a team. Hell I never really was on one since high school dodgeball and that was basically every man for himself._ he thought in response as he picked up a empty table, taking a nice ten dollar tip as well.

 ** _I was thinking…..it'd be nice wouldn't it?_** he asked.

Mark smiled with a forlorn expression, Toxin knew full well that because he bonded to Mark he wasn't always treated as well as other heroes, and he felt guilty because of that. _Yeah…..but as long as my best bud was on the team, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be dead weight._ he replied with a small joke.

He could feel Toxin smile, **_That is true, your kinda useless without me aren't you?_**

Mark rolled his eyes but he knew that it was somewhat true.

* * *

The small coffee shop did have some pretty good lattés like Artemis had promised, he came in and found her camped out in the corner of the shop in a booth, after ordering some food with their drinks they immediately began to talk. "So he can turn into any type of clothing?" the blonde asked, raising an eye at Mark's claim that Toxin is his personal wardrobe at all times. "So you could give yourself a tux right now if you wanted?" she asked with an amused smirk.

Mark put a hand over his chest, "Oh I'm sorry if I'm underdressed for you're very exclusive coffee shop. I'll go to the bathroom and change really quick." he joked, making the archer chuckle. Artemis herself sill had her hair tied back in a ponytail, she also had on a pair of tight blue jeans and a set of black heeled boots, she also wore a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up her arms over a white halter top showing off her midsection.

"Your fine the way you are." she said, looking over his simple red shirt with black sleeves and blue jeans. Her lips curled into a playful smirk, "You seem to like what I'm wearing." she teased, having noticed his eyes briefly wander her a few moments ago. Not that she minded, she had been complimented on her looks before and she liked the praise, but when someone tried to cope a feel….well she remembered when one of her dad's friends' son tried something and she had him on the ground half a second later and her father burst out laughing.

However Mark's cheeks warmed up, "Sorry I just…was trying to figure out where you keep your bow?" he weakly supplied. Peter always kept his costume and webshooters on him at all times for when he needed to spring into action. Mark knew a few other heroes who did the same but with Artemis he doubted she could pull something like that off.

She chuckled, "It's fine. And for your information," she promptly withdrew her crossbow from her jacket and quickly put it away, "I'm always prepared."

 ** _Huh, wonder if I could do that?_** Toxin wondered in the back of Mark's head.

"I'm surprised you just don't use two of those and ditch the compound." Artemis quirked her eye at his correct labeling of her weapon. He merely shrugged, "My mom took me hunting when I was younger, made me take the whole safety course and I had to memorize every type of weapon." he explained.

Artemis let out a short laugh, "My bow has better range, trick arrows, and I can hurt people with it. Without firing a shot that is." she boasted proudly.

"Man you would kill at archery events." he noted. "Must have taken a while to learn though, I got lucky with Toxin. He kinda just….spoiled me." he admitted. The symbiote didn't say anything but Mark just knew that he had a smug little look on his face.

Artemis snorted with amusement, "Well I figured that much." she teased, "But still…you must be pretty open minded to having living jelly use you as a roommate." she stated.

 ** _Hey I'm not living jelly! I'm….well I'm not slime….or a liquid….oh god am I living jelly!?_** Toxin thought with mock horror.

Mark rubbed the back of his head, "Oh don't let my current relationship with Tox fool you, when I first found out about him I promptly freaked out in my bathroom when a tendril with eyes popped out of my chest." he admitted, nearly causing Artemis to choke on her drink at the mental image that brought. "But unlike Spidey, me and Tox can get pretty creative." he said, demonstrating by placing his hand on the table and making it invisible.

The archer smirked, "So how many times have you used that in the girl's locker room?" she asked.

Mark made his hand reappear, "Ok first off, that was the symbiote's idea." he corrected, making her chuckle, "Second, no I never did…..but if your offering to fulfill every boy's dream then who am I to stop you?" he asked, the archer smirked at the jest. The host took a bite out of his food before speaking, "So if you don't mind me asking, why'd you ask me out?" he asked curiously, making the archer divert her gaze off to the side.

"Well…..I haven't been at this hero thing long….the night you met me was my second night out actually." she admitted, making the host's eyes widen. The way she acted didn't make it seem that she was a newbie to this, in fact she arguably seemed to be more experienced in this line of work than he was. "And since we've been working together…..well you're the first guy I've met in the same line of work…..figure since I never asked out someone in a similar line of work….wouldn't hurt to see what it's like." she admitted.

Mark chuckled, "I was kind of wondering the same thing, I mean Spider-Man had a number of girlfriends who didn't know and…..well they didn't all turn out as she hoped."

She smirked, "I figured as much. Besides I think it's more fun when they're both heroes." she added. Mark hadn't considered that, usually dates he had with girls were regrettably….lackluster in terms of what he usually did, but with someone like Artemis….

 ** _Oh! Good idea!_** Toxin thought in agreement as they continued eating.

After they finished their food and drinks, Mark offered to pay for the meal as thanks for inviting him out in the first place. When they walked out of the coffee shop, Mark saw that sun was just beginning to set by the color of the sky, "Hey, you want to see something pretty cool?" he offered to the blonde.

She smiled amusingly at him, "I'll be the judge of how cool it is." she said as she followed him down the street and into an alley where he quickly changed into his Toxin 'suit'. She looked unimpressed, "Wow that's really cool." she said with a bland tone.

"Not that." he said before offering his hand out to her, she took his hand and was pulled in close to him. "Ok hold on." he instructed, two weblines shooting out from his shoulders and pulling them up into the air. His arm wrapped around her waist as he swung her through the air. The blonde clung to him for dear life as they swung through the city, "You good?" he asked as he threw out another web.

They flew down an alleyway before being carried back up into the air, Artemis had to hold back a whoop of excitement, "Ok I admit it! This is pretty cool!" she shouted over the wind, while not as fast as a flyer like superman, the swinging was more exciting than she thought it would be, it was like a roller-coaster and a zipline mixed together and just as fun as it sounded.

He jumped off at the apex of his swing and sprayed the next web to a large building known at the Finger Tower. It was similar to the empire state building only in gothic style. "Actually, this is what I wanted to show you." he said as he landed on top of the stone tower. In front of them, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon to the West. Mark shifted his suit back into regular clothes. "You were talking about how much more fun dates are when your date is a hero too, and I love coming up to places like this so…" he trailed off.

The blonde smiled at him before looking back at the sunset, the spire they were on top of was big enough for the both of them but only just, so Mark had his hand on her shoulder. "It's a little…..old school…..but yeah…that's a pretty cool sight to behold." she admitted. The archer's eyes looked at the pink, orange, red, and purple colors the clouds had to them from the orb in the sky disappearing. "I always kind of thought Gotham was this ugly city, like the ugliest in the world. But I found out other cities like New York, Central City, even Metropolis don't look all that different….but this might be the first time I think I've ever said Gotham looks beautiful."

Mark hummed in agreement, his eyes never leaving Artemis' face which she took notice of, "Hey I've seen this like a dozen times now. First time I've ever brought someone else up with me. I wanted to see your reaction." he said for his own defense. The blonde turned on her heels, making it so that he was wrapping an arm around her waist with his hand still on her back so her body was pressed up against his.

Mark's cheeks warmed as she smirked before leaning forward and they both shut their eyes, Mark felt her lips again this time on his own. He instinctively pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and getting a small moan from the archer before he slowly pulled away. Their eyes opened again with Artemis smirking at him, "Not bad for a third date."

"For the next one could we just make out the entire time?" he proposed.

The archer rolled her eyes amusingly, "Maybe….somewhere else though. Not that I mind you grabbing onto me but this is precarious." she said, looking back over her shoulder down towards the ground.

Mark pulled her back into him, "I won't let you fall." he assured.

* * *

 ** _You sly dog._** Toxin thought as he and Mark climbed through the window to their home, after spending a few more minutes up on the Finger Tower before dropping Artemis off near her home. She explained that she wasn't exactly ready for him to meet her mother but Mark was perfectly respectful of her wishes. With another kiss goodbye they both went their separate ways, Mark went home for the evening while Artemis mentioned she was going out on patrol tonight.

"Stop." Mark said simply as he entered his apartment, he had spent the past week properly furnishing his place, adding a large comfy sofa, a coffee table, and television to the living room section of his apartment and a nice bed to his bedroom. "It was a nice date."

 ** _Which ended with you two kissing. I don't know human dating custom very well but I believe that is what they call 'scoring' my friend._** Toxin said with pride, Mark walking to his fridge and grapping a soda from the container.

"Toxin that's not scoring that's…..ehhh I'll tell you when you're older." he decided, not wanting to get into a discussion of proper slang. "But you're right, that's a….milestone with her." he admitted, their first public date was something and he did enjoy talking with Artemis. AS for kissing her…..well he definitely wouldn't mind doing it again.

For now however he was just happy that she was opening up to him, little by little as it may be. However, while Mark settled in for the night, Artemis returned home that evening to find some visitors awaiting her in the forms of Batman and Green Arrow.


End file.
